(Untitled)
Who: Jo and the people she invites to stay with her.
Where: Her house which is also the Continuing Hope Art Gallery
When: Sunday - Monday - Tuesday (all three days can get clumped into this one post. Just put the day in your subject!)
What: Duh. People have been locked out of the castle. This is because of that.
Notes: Sunday, we will assume she ( Read more... )
Someone caught that, from a quick glance in the direction of the wrong place at just the wrong time.
Her glass froze halfway to her mouth as her alcohol-laden thoughts jumped to about a million conclusions at once, each leading to the same place. A place that hurt. Deeply.
Logically, she knew she had no right to feel this way, if the conclusions her mind just jumped to were true. She bailed without a word, leaving him completely in the dark for three years. Whatever they'd had was nothing but a lost memory to him now, even if she tried to fill in the blanks. But, at the end of the day, she was human. And that very human part of her couldn't help but to feel a sting.
She might've thought it was karma, if she believed in that sort of thing.
But what she thought instead was that she'd seen enough, and that, once again, the room was beginning to close in on her. No, not just close in; more like suffocate her. She needed to clear her head. She needed to breathe.
Without so much as a covert preamble, she rose from her seat and headed for the door. Again.
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Of course, it was difficult to tell what the right move was in this instance. She was still tipsy, not the best person to try and reason with someone that she barely knew. Her hand went to reassure Spike, patting to his knee as she stood up. She knew this was her fault -- sort of -- but she didn't want everyone to bail on her.
She'd invited them all in, she'd invited them to stay with her and here it was all imploding. In a small way she felt sort of like she was back home. All the things that were unsaid were suddenly coming to the surface and making everyone else regret showing up. Those truths and hard things to hear made things difficult, but she didn't want to be the source of all the difficulty.
Once she was to her feet, she moved to go after Julia. Even if she had made it through the door, her slightly wobbly walk was going to push her back to the street.
"Julia, wait..."
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Staggering to his feet, he nods to the others in the room and follows Jo after Julia. He's not really thinking about what he might be able to do, just knows he has to at least try.
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"Yup. Definitely cutting everybody off. It's getting way too serious in here."
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But, regardless, something caused her to stop. Even if she couldn't quite explain what it was. Maybe it was the fact that she knew she wouldn't get very far. Or maybe it was the faint, lingering possibility that she'd been wrong.
After what seemed like an eternity of hesitation, she took a steadying breath and turned around.
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When Julia stopped, Jo stopped and she was relieved that she hadn't been the only one to come outside after her. Of course, Gwaine might not have been her first choice it was better than being on her own for this.
"You really can't go anywhere with all the leaves and I really am not sure why you left, but I'm just trying to get everyone to get along and stick around. I mean, it got a bit weird with the comment about us looking similar, but I was amused. I mean, we do sort of look alike. There was a girl in the castle before -- had the same face as me. A tattoo on her face, an M across her cheek and rising over her eye. Still, it was weird."
Honestly, Layla Miller looking like her was creepy. The girl knew too much and was proclaiming herself to be someone's wife. Not exactly what Jo wanted to be recognized as.
"This... I don't think this is weird. It's not weird. Plus, I consider you a friend." Jo nodded again, "I'm talking too much. I do that when I drink. I also get friendly and I talk too much. I said that already."
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"I apologize to you both if what I said was at all offensive. It was not my intention. Julia, you need not leave. If something upset you, I am certain it can be resolved. If it is me, then I shall be the one to leave. You are the guest, I merely followed."
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In another world, the way she was behaving now would have almost certainly gotten her killed.
She had to save face somehow. Damage control. They'd seen her slip once. It wasn't going to become a pattern.
Between the rambling and the pauses, she had enough time to put on her mask again. The one she wore everyday for years, the one that portrayed her as someone who was cool, calm, and completely unaffected. She wasn't interested in getting into a long, drawn-out conversation.
"It's all right." Clipped, to the point. Almost as if she were wrapping up some kind of business meeting. To anyone who really knew her, that was a sign that something was still bothering her.
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Bad. Bad, Jo. Don't go smelling the head of a perfect stranger when you're drunk.
Exhaling, she glanced to Julia and listened to what she said. Of course, Jo could tell that it wasn't exactly true and she wondered if it was also the fact that Jo had tugged on Spike. The timing did seem to line up right for that one.
It clicked in that moment, but she wasn't going to let onto her big 'ah-ha' moment just yet.
"Are you going to come back inside?" Jo asked the question, putting a lot of hope in her tone, "I think Max is trying to cut off the booze, but I have cake, too. Tater tots -- if I can manage the oven without setting off the smoke detector. Also, more booze. Because, Max isn't the boss'a me."
Jo's hand wandered up against Gwaine's shoulder and into his hair, "His hair is really soft."
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Option Number One, of course, was her fail-safe. Leaving. That was generally her favored strategy of self-preservation. Distance was the only way to guarantee security. After all, even the most advanced of bullets had a limited range; all you had to do was get out of it.
Or so the theory went. In reality, it tended to cause more problems than it solved. And, somehow, she got the feeling that, no matter how tempting, it'd be impossible to run from this.
Not to mention that it'd be hard to get very far under the current circumstances.
Which, of course, led her to Option Number Two. Staying and continuing to pretend that nothing was wrong. Given the way she'd just slipped, it wasn't ideal. But this was nothing she couldn't handle, right? She'd survived worse, hadn't she?
And whatever the truth was, it wasn't Jo's fault.
She let out a quiet breath. "I will."
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When Jo's hand ends up in his hair, he only tilts his head to her so she has better access. There is something really...nice? comforting? some good feeling he can't quite place in his alcohol haze about someone fiddling with your hair. The only thing that makes the moment better is Julia's acquiescence. His grin is back to its usual width and intensity.
"Then let us return. No need to stay out here among the leaves if we don't have to."
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"Yeah, let's go inside and just relax. No thinking about the leaves or the dumb castle or that if the castle wants to make it snow tomorrow it could."
Her eyes went wide for a moment, "Oh, I really hope it doesn't turn the leaves into snow. I hate shoveling."
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Jo and their new friend. That would just about do it for his chances of smoothing things over. Once they were gone, Spike grabbed the bottle Jo had left on the table in time to catch Max's comment. Seemed hardly fair when he was so far behind everyone else, and he wasn't too inclined to give it up.
After a generous swig, he leaned far back into the couch, looking like a man waiting for his death sentence. If he could only be so lucky.
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